Burroughs Prepared in Case of Minnehaha Creek Flooding

As waters rise across the state, Minneapolis Public Schools are not taking any chances with preparations at Burroughs Community School, which sits off Minnehaha Creek and is one of 100 or so Minneapolis properties that face flooding.

Because much of the winter's snow has slowly melted over the last week—melting during the day but freezing at night—the likelyhood of a flood that might threaten the school is small, said Telly Mamayek, spokesperson for the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.

"We know from observations in the watershed, most of the snow has melted, particularly along the creek," said Mamayek. "The wildcard is the rain, and that’s something we cannot predict"

Craig Vana, Minneapolis Public Schools executive director for emergency management, said the 2003 decision to rebuild the Burroughs building farther uphill from the creek removed much of the flood threat from the building. However, the loading dock on the building's southwest corner might see water lapping at its doors during a flood, Vana said.

"Principal Tim Cadotte has put together a list of volunteers to sandbag the school, if we need to," Vana said.

Vanna added that the district has moved sump pumps into the building and trained custodians on their use, just in case. 

“We’re in pretty good shape," Vana said. " I was looking at the creek [Tuesday]. It's running fast and there's a lot of water in the creek, but it's nowhere near getting over its banks."

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